By: Evan J. Thomas

This past Thursday night at the historic Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago delivered a rock lineup that hit hard, hit genuine, and left the crowd buzzing well after the lights came down. From rising star Kami Kehoe to the veteran powerhouse of Seether, the evening marched through riff-heavy terrain with confidence and swagger.
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Kami Kehoe set the tone with a punchy, high-octane set that injected the night with raw, driven energy. While still early in her climb, her powerful presence and gritty vocal delivery proved her more than ready to open a night of rock.  The highlight of her set for me was when she took over on drums and tore it up.  At the age of 22, Kami Kehoe is a name to keep an eye on.


Next up, California’s nu metal legends P.O.D. brought their signature blend of rap-metal and spiritual grit, turning the ballroom into a cathartic bounce pit. Tracks delivered with their trademark urgency had fans moving and singing back every line—proof that the band still know how to command a large room.


When Daughtry took the stage, it was stadium-level rock in an intimate club setting. Frontman Chris Daughtry’s soaring vocals paired with polished hooks delivered one arena anthem after another, the set shimmering with melody without losing that raw live edge.  The emotion that pours out of the veins of Daughtry is immeasurable, as you can see by my photographs.  I saw him back in April in Indianapolis opening up for Disturbed and was very excited to photograph the former American Idol contestant.  


Finally, Seether closed out the night with intensity and authenticity. The South African trio leaned into their heavier mood—crunchy guitars, brooding textures, and those familiar sing-along moments that feel earned. They balanced nostalgia with modern grit, reminding everyone that post-grunge still has teeth.  Lighting was a struggle throughout since it seemed like the band didn't want us photographers in the pit.  


This was a rock night built for both die-hards and those craving fresh yet familiar energy. From the opener to the closer, the lineup proved more than just nostalgia—it proved relevance, vitality, and gritty artistry. Chicago got a statement show on November 6: rock is alive, and it still packs a serious punch.

By: Evan J. Thomas

​The Mercury Ballroom in Louisville, KY shook to its foundation as Reddstar, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, and Twiztid delivered a powerhouse night of high-energy performances, heavy beats, and unapologetic attitude.  Shout out to Bake Lo, Bukshot & Anybody Killa for great sets!

Reddstar is Daemien kicking it on the mic along with Mikey shredding on the guitar, Erik slapping the bass and Grizz ripping it on the skins, the guys set the tone early, firing up the crowd with a genre-bending set that fused metal aggression and hip-hop swagger, proving Daemien is one of the most exciting new voices in the scene. Ripping it with their new song "Th3 R3DR3SS" along with "BAD DEC1SIONS", "ALR1GHT" and more.  

Blaze Ya Dead Homie followed with his signature dark humor and razor-sharp flow, commanding the stage with the confidence of a veteran and the hunger of an artist still evolving.
By the time Twiztid took over, the energy was volcanic. With face paint flashing under the lights and the crowd screaming every word, the duo turned the Mercury Ballroom into a madhouse of horrorcore anthems and unrelenting connection.

It was a night that reminded everyone why this underground movement endures—authentic, rebellious, and real to the bone.

By: Evan J. Thomas

On Sunday night,  the Chicago area based rock band Now Its Dark proved why they're on of the regions most talked about and quickly rising acts.  Now Its Dark sparked and then lit up Rookies Rochaus in West Dundee, IL with a commanding performance that blended heavy emotion, raw energy, and cinematic atmosphere.  Delivering a set that was equal parts dark, dynamic, and unforgettable they are moving to the upper echelon of area bands and are ready to break out. 
From the haunting pulse of “Nymph” to the soaring hooks of their latest material, the band kept the crowd locked in from the first note to the final feedback. Vocalist Frost Tayla led with passion and precision, while the band’s tight musicianship and dynamic stage presence created an immersive experience that hit with both power and purpose.
It was a night that reaffirmed Now Its Dark as I had said, a band on the brink of breaking wide open — a modern rock act with the sound, vision, and fire to command any stage they step on.  Keep an eye and ear on Now Its Dark.

By: Mayzie Clark​

Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, Leith Ross has become a prominent presence in the alternative
& singer-songwriter music scene. Ross’s music career began in their early teen years, and they
eventually pursued a degree in Jazz Vocals at Humber College in Toronto. After graduation, they
released their debut EP “Motherwell” in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and being unable to
tour, Ross turned to TikTok to share their music. Shortly after, Ross posted a video of their original song “We’ll Never Have Sex” which struck a chord with millions on the App, receiving over 41 million streams on Spotify.

Opening for the show was 22-year-old artist Emma Harner. I had the great pleasure of seeing
her last July when she opened for mxmtoon at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis. Harner’s
poignant lyricism and ghostly guitar melodies are absolutely enchanting and refreshing to the ear.
Harner spins new life into present-day, guitar-driven music as she savors both alternative tunings and unconventional plucking patterns. She even noted in her closing song, “False Alarm” off of her debut EP, “Taking My Side”, that the song alternates between counts of 11 and 12. Then asking, “Want me to count them out for you?” To which the crowd cheered in response. Emma Harner is a prodigy in the making, and I hope this is far from the last time I get to see her perform again.

After Emma Harner finished her opening set, Ross took to the stage to welcome Barbara
Arango, of The Harbour, a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing “immediate, stable, and safe housing to youth and young mothers experiencing homelessness.” Arango took just a few minutes to tell the attendees about their organization, how they seek to assist and elevate the voices of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and other vulnerable people groups in the Chicago area, and what they can do to help. This portion of the show remains a central part of each one of Ross’ shows; however, they seek to provide a platform for a different organization at each show, local to the area they are performing in that evening. This effort remains one of the key focal points of Ross’s mission to build community across the country as they tour from city to city. The set list for Ross’s show was as follows:

Point of View
Treasure
Stay
Terrified
Home
What My Love Is For

I Love Watching You Eat Dinner
I'd Have to Think About It
I Will
What Are You Thinking About
Alone
Grieving
(I Can See) The Future
(You) On My Arm
Encore:
We'll Never Have Sex

Ross’s vocals were emotive, dynamic, and as smooth as butter- their formal training shone
through throughout their performance. Ross accompanied themself with both acoustic and electric
guitar, additionally supported by bass, drums, electric keys, mandolin, and fiddle. I thought the band was very well mixed; my only critique would be that I felt the drum overheads got a little bit lost at times. Additionally, the crowd was, by far, one of the most respectful and engaged audiences I’ve ever witnessed. Leith Ross is such a kind & radiant soul. Their music doesn’t just capture you, it transports you. What an ethereal evening of compassion, connection, and community. From open to close, I was incredibly grateful to shoot this performance and be a part of a moment in time where the world felt a little less scary and a lot more hopeful.

Review By: Kat Gullage
Photos By: Holly Roy Photography

I trudged through a monsoon to get to the venue on Halloween Eve. The bottom of my jeans were drenched and my raincoat weighed about a thousand pounds. Who else but Steel Panther would blanket the town with excessive moisture on a Thursday night?


LOWLIVES, the opener, was a Brit/USA post-grunge alt rock fusion. Brits Lee Downer (guitar, vocals) and Luke Johnson (drums) joined with Steve Lucarelli (bass) and Jaxon Moore (guitar) in LA. Frontman Lee set the tone “Let’s have a fucking good time. This song is called “Freaking Out”.” And they tore straight into the title track. I was immediately drawn to them. I had half expected a band with some sort of satirical unserious vibe and also wasn’t prepared for how much I would fancy them right from the start. They rolled through an eight song set with five from their 2024 LP, Freaking Out. “Thank you. This second one is called “Hey You” (2020 single), Lee announced before lining up the next one. “This is the first single off the record we released last year.” It was “Liar”. “We’ve never been here before. Do y’all go to this university over here? Or are you just normal? Which is fine! Well, here’s a song about hating everyone.” They performed their 2021 single, “I Don’t Like You”, appropriately followed by “You Don’t Care”. “If you guys dig Alice In Chains, you’ll like this, this is “Swan Dive”. He had me at Alice In Chains. However the song didn’t give me 90’s AIC, it evoked 2013 AIC, like “Hollow” or “Phantom Limb”. Either way, if it conjures Jerry Cantrell, I’m down. (Kindly pass me a moist towellette. Thank you.) They played their latest single, “Loser” before giving Steel Panther a shout out and telling a story about one of the band members going to a fancy museum while listening to SP’s “Poontang Boomerang” in their headphones. They closed with their 2018 single “Burn Forever”. I dug their live show, even though they coulda turned Jaxson’s guitar up a smidge, so I bought their CD. If you’re into like Seether or Puddle of Mudd, wrapped up in Bush (the band ya pervs!), sprinkled with punk, check out LOWLIVES.


It was time for the headliner, Steel Panther, a parody glam metal band frozen in 1987 known for their filthy lyrics and humor. The group from LA has six studio albums and tapped five of em for their twelve song set. The club had filled in despite the weather outside. The members took their respective spots and tore into the first of five from Feel The Steel with “Eyes Of A Panther”, flanked by two scantily clad strippers who worked a pair of wobbly, short poles like total pros. Lemme tell ya, these girls were talented. Lead guitarist Satchel (Russ Parrish) shredded right out of the gate, reminding me why I’ve always thought he’s really skilled. Two new dancers took over on the poles for “Let Me Cum In” (Balls Out) and they chose a random asian girl from the audience to join them on stage for “Asian Hooker”. Frontman Michael Starr (Ralph Saenz) hyped up the fans, or “fanthers”. “New Haven! Are you ready to rock tonight?!” He then did a crazy ass back and forth sing-a-long with the crowd that started simple and became impossible. “Holy shit you guys got that! I don’t even know what I said!” A cut from On The Prowl was next with “Friends With Benefits”. “How many of you were here last time?” The entire band raised their hands. Satchel told a joke about catching Starr, back in the day, doing a line of coke off of Tommy Lee’s junk and then licking it clean. Starr proclaimed “I was trying to taste Pamela!” Up next was “Poontang Boomerang” (Lower The Bar) and the male dominated crowd sang it word for word. “We’re celebrating a milestone! We didn’t die yet!” The jokes kept coming in this pornographic stand up meets 80s hair metal show. “Our drummer went to Yale! Yeah, well he walked by it.” It was time for Satchel’s solo, which had a clear Eddie Van Halen thread in it, he nailed it and segued effortlessly into “Turn Out The Lights”. Satchel spoke to the fanthers, “You know people risk their lives everyday…to smuggle drugs into this country. This one’s called “Magical Vagina” and if you have one, feel free to whip it out.” Bassist Spyder (Joe Lester) introduced some individually wrapped boob shaped candies, allegedly filled with cocaine. He took pride as he gleefully threw a few out into the all ages crowd. Honestly, these should be sold at the merch booth. Two from Balls Out were next. The first was “Weenie Ride” and the second was “17 Girls In A Row” which introduced the infamous part of their performance, where they invite female fans on stage. They actually had to coax girls to get on stage this time. “Don’t worry, you won’t get fired! This is something you can add to your resume! If your boyfriend is telling you No, then dump his ass!” They did finally gather seventeen souls and everybody had a great time up there. I didn’t join them, but I have done it in the past. One of the ladies up there somehow convinced the band to let her boyfriend, some rando named Christian, sit in on the drums. Satchel proclaimed “He can do his girlfriend in the ass tonight if he does a good job.” Motivated indeed, the kid fucking killed it as he aced “Death To All But Metal” with the band and earned a crowd chant of “Fuck That Ass!” Christian was, without question, the night’s MVP. Satchel announced that their singer would be playing the guitar for the first time ever in New Haven. Starr did indeed grab one but played it for only the first line or two of “Community Property”. The fanthers belted it out word for word. “Did any of you bring your girlfriends tonight? That’s like bringing a taco to Taco Bell!” “Thank you for cumming out tonight! Heavy metal will never die!” Starr then tossed his hat into the crowd. It was thrown back to him and this went on for a few more tosses with fans before he tossed it to each band member. The bassist caught it with ease, Starr then tossed it to Satchel who attempted to catch it with the neck of his guitar and failed. “I know what you're thinking. What a terrible throw!” He succeeded in the next attempt and then the drummer, Styx Zadinia (Darren Leader), caught the hat on one stick. They wrapped the set with “Glory Hole” (All You Can Eat) and thanked everyone for a great show. I’ve seen Steel Panther multiple times and they find a way to keep it fresh. Beneath the filthy fun and flash, these guys are legit musicians, hilarious comedians, and expert crowd-workers. If you know what you’re getting into, you will laugh and be entertained by their sleaze rock show. I don’t know if it was Steel Panther or Mother Nature, but we all left this show wet.

By: Evan J. Thomas

If Halloween in Chicago had a soundtrack, it would sound exactly like this show. On October 31st, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult transformed Concord Music Hall into a swirling den of sin, synth, and spectacle — joined by the seductive chaos of Die Sexual and the desert-noir witchery of Devora. It wasn’t just a concert; it was a midnight mass for the misfits, where glam met grit and industrial decadence reigned supreme.

Opening the night, Devora or as it their facebook page says "Goth Dolly Parton" emerged like a gothic gunslinger stepping out of a neon dust storm. Drenched in crimson lights, her voice cut through the smoke with a mix of melancholy and menace. Blending western twang with dark pop and industrial bite, Devora hypnotized the crowd with tracks like “Body Bag,” “Not Dead Yet,” and her latest single “Wildfire.” Equal parts Lana Del Rey and Nine Inch Nails, her performance set the tone — cinematic, dangerous, and unflinchingly cool.

Then came Die Sexual, and the energy went from moody to manic. The Los Angeles-based darkwave/industrial provocateurs delivered a pulse-pounding set that felt like a fever dream in a haunted nightclub. With relentless synths, pounding beats, and theatrical flair, their performance was a collision of fetish art, performance chaos, and pure electronic adrenaline. Fronted by an unapologetically fierce presence, the band blurred the lines between performance and ritual — lights flashing, bodies moving, and the crowd giving in completely.

By the time My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult hit the stage, the room was already vibrating with anticipation. Dressed in their trademark blend of sleaze and style, Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy wasted no time plunging fans into their depraved disco inferno. With pulsing strobes and a wall of vintage visuals, the band delivered a full-blown industrial cabaret — equal parts rock show, dance party, and cult ceremony.

Thrill Kill Kult tore through decades of dark dance anthems — “A Daisy Chain 4 Satan,” and “Kooler Than Jesus” among others — all delivered with a raw, hypnotic energy that had the Concord crowd in constant motion. Every beat, every vocal snarl, every burst of light felt like a flashback to the golden age of Wax Trax!, yet somehow timeless.  I do have to say not playing “Sex on Wheelz,” and off of The Crow Soundtrack their famous “After the Flesh,” I was personally a bit disappointed.
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Groovie Mann prowled the stage like a demonic ringmaster, his charismatic growl counterbalanced by Buzz McCoy’s electronic sorcery. Together, they conjured a soundscape that was both nostalgic and alive — the soundtrack to a decadent dream you never want to wake from.
As the night wound down, lights pulsed, and the crowd — dressed in their Halloween best — screamed every lyric like a sermon. It was more than a concert; it was a celebration of Chicago’s gothic heart, a reminder that My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult remains one of the most iconic, theatrical, and irresistibly sinful acts in industrial rock history.

By: Evan J. Thomas

If Halloween weekend needed a proper pre-party, WC Social Club delivered it in full-blast style when Crobot, The Atomic Bitchwax, and Sunvolume stormed the stage for a night of pure rock chaos. It wasn’t just a concert — it was a baptism in fuzz, funk, and face-melting groove that left the crowd howling for more.

Kicking off Devil's Night was one of my favorite live bands and Chicago’s own Sunvolume, whose hometown swagger immediately lit up the room. With soaring vocals, melodic hooks, and thunderous energy, the band proved why they’re one of the the areas most exciting rising acts. Their set was the perfect ignition point — tight, emotional, and brimming with modern rock firepower. By the end of their set, the crowd was fully locked in.

Then came The Atomic Bitchwax, and the vibe shifted from modern rock to pure, unfiltered stoner groove. The New Jersey trio unleashed a barrage of riffs so heavy they could bend steel. With cosmic jams, head-banging tempo shifts, and fuzzed-out guitar work from Chris Kosnik and Bob Pantella (both veterans of Monster Magnet fame), The Bitchwax turned WC Social into a swirling galaxy of psychedelic power. Songs like “Hope You Die” and “Shit Kicker” turned into full-room singalongs, proving that timeless riff rock still hits harder than ever.

And then — Crobot descended.
From the first wah-drenched chord, frontman Brandon Yeagley had the crowd in the palm of his hand. The man moves like a psychedelic preacher possessed, twirling his mic stand and unleashing that signature, soul-soaked snarl that’s become the band’s calling card. Guitarist Chris Bishop was a force of nature, slinging riff after riff with a grin that said he knew exactly how dangerous they were. Backed by a new rhythm section tighter than a supernova with brothers Willie (Bass) and Nico Jensen (Drums), Crobot launched into a set that was equal parts chaos and celebration.
They tore through fan favorites like “Low Life,” “Gasoline,” with explosive precision, while their new single “Gun To My Head” brought a darker, heavier punch that shook the floorboards. Between songs, Yeagley bantered with the crowd, blending humor, charisma, and a sense of theater that made every second feel electric.

Crobot didn’t just play — they performed. Funk grooves collided with heavy metal grit, cosmic jams morphed into arena-sized hooks, and by the end of the night, fans were drenched in sweat and grinning ear to ear.

Crobot is currently on tour with The Atomic Bitchwax till November 23 so catch them in a city near you!  

By: Jen Skaggs

Mind Incision is an exceptional band that captivates audiences with their compelling aesthetics, powerful sound, and passionate delivery. Their lyrical content deeply resonates with listeners, often evoking profound emotional responses. "The Awakening," in particular, is a testament to their ability to connect with personal experiences, as it moved me to tears due to its poignant relevance.

Their interaction with the fans was truly remarkable, and the lead singer, Jason Neil, made a memorable appearance in an extraordinary costume for the final song. This is another must see band! 

By: Jen

I would like to share an observation with you all. If you have not yet experienced Mushroomhead, I highly recommend attending. The interaction with their fans is truly remarkable, the atmosphere is incredible, and the energy throughout the entire evening was absolutely perfect.


Jackie's vocal performance was both passionate and captivating. Her energetic stage presence, particularly during her rendition of "The Heresy" where she directly engaged with the audience, was truly remarkable. The entire band also exhumed a high level of energy. Additionally, the water drummers delivered a notably interactive performance, splashing audience members with water multiple times upon request.

Steve Rauckhorst and Scott Beck demonstrated exceptional audience engagement, exhibiting remarkable energy and enthusiasm throughout the performance. Their dynamic presence, which included crowd surfing, fist pumping, and interacting directly with attendees from the stage, significantly enhanced the overall experience. This was undoubtedly one of the most memorable events I have attended in recent history. The Epic Event Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, consistently curates an impressive lineup of artists capable of generating an electrifying atmosphere, like Mushroomhead!